Generally, parking brake assemblies for automobiles, among other things, include a lock-release mechanism made up of a sector gear and lock pawl which cooperate to provide a ratcheting type directional locking of the parking brake and an actuator to disengage the lock pawl from the gear sector to release the parking brake or a helical spring. Examples of parking brakes can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,850,242; 5,309,786; 5,881,605; 5,001,942; 5,448,928; 5,211,072; 5,875,688; 5,182,963; 5,588,335; 5,832,784; 5,533,420; 6,662,676, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference.
One of the issues with conventional parking brake systems is that they do not package equally across multiple car platforms. There is, therefore, a need in the art for a parking brake assembly that has improved packaging with sufficient performance such that the system can be more readily adapted across multiple vehicle platforms.
Another issue with conventional brakes is brake lever travel loss. Brake lever travel loss is a term generally understood in the art. Essentially, brake lever travel loss results in the necessity of over applying a parking brake. As such there is a need in the art for a parking brake assembly that has reduced brake lever travel loss.